The Villainess Lives Twice - Chapter 3

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 3

Artizea had once burst the embankment of the Aba River in order to frame Sedric.

At that time, Sedric was on his way back from reorganizing the western border of the Empire under Emperor Gregor’s orders.

The Emperor sent an imperial messenger commanding him to return his commander’s seal and hurry back to the capital alone.

It was then that Artizea tampered with the embankment.

One small city and several villages were swept away in the flood.

She calculated that only about 30,000 people would be directly affected and dismissed it.

The farmlands would also suffer damage, but it was a year of good harvest, so there was no risk of the entire country being swept into famine.

There was no way Sedric couldn’t have made the same calculations that Artizea had.

No matter how you looked at it, it would have been more advantageous to abandon the Aba River and return to the capital following the Emperor’s orders.

But Sedric didn’t do that. An army was needed to prevent the flood from spreading.

He magnificently prevented the flood damage with minimal casualties.

However, because he acted as commander without returning his seal, he drew the Emperor’s suspicion.

Because Sedric was that kind of person, Artizea did such things.

It was always like that.

When Artizea discovered the Village of the rebels in the Evron Duchy and framed them, when she schemed to expel the Duke of Roigar, and when the plague spread, it was the same.

He knew it was Artizea’s doing and what the consequences would be, yet he still saved people in the end.

And finally, he was defeated and became a fugitive.

“Please have some tea.”

The butler said respectfully and gave Sedric a metal cup.

Then he sat beside Artizea and poured thick tea loaded with sugar and milk into her mouth.

Sedric sat looking at Artizea while drinking his tea, as if they were having teatime.

Artizea looked at him while blankly thinking of Lisia’s last words.

“If you ever happen to meet Lord Sedric, please tell him that Lisia lived without regrets.”

Lisia probably never wanted Artizea to meet him again.

For Sedric to face Artizea would ultimately mean when he was defeated and dragged to the capital.

But the current situation was the complete opposite of what she had thought then.

Even now, years later, Sedric was still alive, and his forces hadn’t completely died out.

It was Artizea who had fallen. And Artizea was now dragged to Sedric’s military camp, facing him.

Now Lisia would want her to convey those words.

But Artizea couldn’t keep the promise she made to Lisia. She couldn’t speak.

When the butler finished pouring the entire cup of tea into Artizea’s mouth, Sedric suddenly stood up.

“Get out.”

“…?”

Artizea opened her eyes and looked up at him questioningly.

Sedric approached and lightly lifted her up.

Unlike when Benia did it, this time Artizea struggled. She was flustered.

But she couldn’t resist Sedric’s arm strength.

When she was lifted up as if being held in his arms and taken outside the tent, knights in military uniforms hurriedly approached.

They were all grimy from their long life as fugitives.

“Your Highness.”

“Your Grace.”

“Where are you taking that villainess?”

“I have business.”

“We will carry her.”

The knights extended their hands. Sedric turned his body sideways as if avoiding their hands.

“Don’t talk about a person like an object.”

“What does it matter? Your Highness is treating that demon far too well.”

“Stay here. I’ll go alone.”

“That won’t do.”

The knights were alarmed.

“What harm could Marquess Rosan do to me without arms or legs?”

“You never know!”

“That witch could cause disaster with just her tongue.”

“Unfortunately, Marquess Rosan doesn’t even have a tongue.”

Sedric clicked his tongue and said that.

He strode across the military camp.

Then he mounted his horse while holding Artizea.

Since her body wasn’t intact, he couldn’t put her on the back, and this was the easiest way to move with her.

Artizea shuddered. She had never been this close to another person before.

The body heat against her back was hot.

Sedric rode out of the barracks with her on his horse.

A light rain was falling.

Looking at the mountain terrain and streams, Artizea realized this was the Bakwor region of the Duchy of Roigart.

Bakwor was the granary of the eastern Empire.

Though it couldn’t compare to the vast plains of the west, it had abundant water and a mild climate that produced all kinds of grains and fruits.

The Empire’s finest wine was also produced here.

But now, that sight was nowhere to be found.

Smoke rose from the blackened earth. During the ride, what could be seen sporadically were not houses but broken debris.

Corpses were scattered about, but women’s bodies were rarely to be found.

The city was also destroyed.

Only ruins remained of the walls. Survivors crouched under the blackened walls of houses, rolling their eyes as they watched the two people.

Not understanding what had happened, Artizea stared blankly at the scene.

What had occurred while she was imprisoned?

There probably hadn’t been a war in the Bakwor region.

“This happened because someone from Bakwor suggested a plan to assassinate Lawrence to the Duke of Roigar 12 years ago.”

Artizea couldn’t breathe properly and her chest heaved.

This was unnecessary slaughter.

Lawrence was already Emperor and had the Imperial Army in his hands.

His power was solid, and imperial authority was stronger than anyone’s. Artizea had made it that way.

Such things had always been Artizea’s responsibility.

Lawrence had to remain clean. So that he could maintain legitimacy by casting out only Artizea at any time.

That was Artizea’s duty imposed by Milaire.

Artizea had faithfully performed that obligation.

So now that she was gone, Lawrence would have become a complete Emperor.

“Surprising and shocking? Isn’t this a method you used often, Marquess Rosan?”

Sedric said in a low voice.

“Whether something is necessary or unnecessary. I know you decide whether to execute schemes based on that. Perhaps Lawrence also judged this to be necessary.”

“….”

“Or do you think, Marquess Rosan, that your judgment is absolute while Lawrence’s is not?”

Artizea couldn’t say anything.

“If that were the case, then your expulsion was also natural.”

Sedric said that and turned his horse’s head.

* * *

After that, Sedric organized a small detachment and moved to various places.

Artizea was also carried on the butler’s horse, following that detachment.

There were many other places that had been left in terrible condition.

There was no one to restore the places where locusts had passed, the traces of civil war, or the collapsed embankments.

The relief grain system didn’t function either.

Every road overflowed with wandering people and epidemics spread. Uncollected corpses were scattered everywhere.

The Empire’s politics being a mess wasn’t just a matter of one or two years.

Emperor Gregor had been self-centered and selfish, a person who prioritized his own authority over the lives of the Empire’s people.

The succession struggle had ruined the country. Artizea had taken the lead in making it so.

But she had thought things would get better once Lawrence became emperor.

Artizea had thought they could restore everything when that time came.

When Lisia was empress, there had been hope in the Empire.

Even after she died, until the time when Artizea remained by Lawrence’s side as a meritorious subject, there had at least been efforts to do something.

But now the imperial family seemed to have abandoned everything.

Artizea already understood what Cedric wanted to say.

Instead of criticizing her with words like Benia, he seemed to want to show her the results of what she had done.

“I hear Milaire is dead.”

On the day they arrived at the village of the rebels after crossing the frozen northern wilderness, he delivered that news.

Artizea was utterly exhausted, so she didn’t even have the energy to be shocked by the news.

“It seems she kept nagging Lawrence about his women problems.”

That would be right. Milaire wouldn’t have given him wise counsel about taking good care of the country.

In the village of the rebels, only graves remained, with thousands of shadows from wooden crosses cast about.

That village wasn’t actually where real rebels had lived.

It was where people had hidden when they fled after Emperor Gregor framed his sister and brother-in-law—Cedric’s parents—for treason and killed them.

Later, when the truth was revealed, Cedric’s parents were posthumously pardoned. The wanted orders for those who had fled were also lifted.

Still, they didn’t leave the village where they had lived trusting and depending on each other.

Lisia was also from this village.

Cedric, who was half-connected to the imperial family by blood but had lost all those he could call family, found comfort in this village.

Artizea had known this too.

So she had slandered them.

Artizea learned for the first time that graves had been made.

Had Cedric personally thrown soil on all these graves?

‘Did he bring me here to see and reflect?’

Artizea only thought this to herself.

Cedric silently prayed for a long time on the hill overlooking the entire village, then brought her back to the military camp.

“I don’t think even you knew Lawrence would become like this, Marquess Rosan.”

“…”

“I thought he used very base and dirty methods. But once the fight for the throne began, defeat would be worse than death, so I understood it anyway.”

Artizea desperately wanted to ask.

Why don’t you talk about Lisia?

Why don’t you ask how the saint he tried to protect with everything died?

Milaire had been killed over women problems. Cedric must now know how Lawrence treats women.

If so, he could have blamed Artizea for taking Lisia away from him and forcing her to marry Lawrence.

But he didn’t. His stern face resembled a public statue erected in a square.

“But I never thought he would carry out such tyranny. Why on earth? The Krates Empire is now Lawrence’s. Doesn’t he have any sense of wanting to cherish what’s his, treat it preciously, and make it magnificent?”

Artizea couldn’t answer anyway since she had no tongue.

She lowered her eyes. She was the one who wanted to know. Why Lawrence was acting like this.

“Give me a plan.”

And she looked up in shock at Cedric’s next words.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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